Greatest Women Athletes of All Time track & field, golf, basketball. USA At the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she won gold in both the 80-meter hurdles and javelin throw, and took silver in the high jump. She won the British Ladies' Amateur golf tournament. She was the first (and still the only) woman in history to make the cut in a regular PGA Tour event. She achieved All-American status in basketball Lottie Dod tennis, hockey, archery, golf UK At age 15, she became the youngest woman ever to win the Wimbledon Ladies' Singles Championship, and went on to win it 4 more times. Played field hockey for England national two years after taking up the sport. She won the British Ladies' Amateur golf tournament in 1904. Won the silver medal in archery at the 1908 Olympics in London. Jackie Joyner-Kersee track & field USA 4-time Olympian and 6-time Olympic medalist who twice won gold in the Heptathlon. Sports Illustrated voted her the greatest female athlete of the 20th century.

Fanny Blankers-Koen track & field The Netherlands sprinter and hurdler who won 4 gold medals in the 1948 London Olympics. In the post-war years she set or equalled 12 world records in events as diverse as the long jump, the high jump, sprint and hurdling events and the Pentathlon. In 1999 the IAAF voted her the greatest female athlete of the 20th century. Clara Hughes cycling / speed skating Canada a 6-time Olympian and the only person (man or woman) to win multiple medals in both summer and winter Olympics Mia Hamm Soccer USA She appeared in the first four Women's World Cups (winning two of them). She also won gold in the 1996 and 2004 Summer Olympics. She has 158 career goals in international competition, more than any other man or woman.

Was also named Women's FIFA World Player of the Year the first two times the award was issued Larissa Latynina Top 50 Female Athletes Ever | Bleacher Report Top 50 Female Athletes Ever Use your ← → (arrow) keys to browse the slideshow Christian Petersen/Getty Images What do Yani Tseng, Mia Hamm, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Tracey Caulkins have in common? They are some of the greatest female athletes of all time. These female athletes, and others, are talented enough to rival and even surpass their male counterparts in any sport they compete in. They are fast, strong and have made some of the most impressive and memorable records in sports history. So here is a list of 50 of the greatest female athletes from across the sporting spectrum. No. 50 Mary T. Meagher Tony Duffy/Getty Images Mary T. Meagher is a former Olympic and world record-holding swimmer. She not only set records, but managed to break her own as well. No. 49 Dawn Fraser Getty Images/Getty Images This famous athlete is a former Australian swimmer who is one of only two swimmers to ever win the same event twice. In this case the 100-meter freestyle.

No. 48 Althea Gibson Photo courtesy A former No. 1 American tennis player, Althea Gibson not only was the first African-American woman to become a competitor in the game of tennis, but also the first woman to win a Grand Slam title. Michael Caulfield/Getty Images Hannah Teter is one of the most well-known female snowboarders in the word. So far in her career she has become an Olympic champion, winning the gold in the half pipe in the 2006 Winter Olympics, and has six World Cup championship wins under her belt. Pretty impressive for someone who is only 24. No. 46 Manon Rheaume Photo courtesy Not only has this hockey great won silver at the Olympics for her Canadian national team, but she is the only woman to have ever played in an NHL exhibition game. No. 45 Mary Decker Slaney Gray Mortimore/Getty Images Mary Decker Slaney is one of the most well-known and most-recognized track athletes of all time. She set a total of 17 official and unofficial world records and 36 U.S. national records throughout her carer. No.

44 Janet Evans Michael Cohen/Getty Images An American long distance freestyle swimmer who has recently announced her comeback to the sport for the 2012 Olympics. Inspired by Dara Torres, maybe? No. 43 Anne Donovan Jeff Gross/Getty Images This former basketball player not only excelled at playing the game but coaching it as well when she became the only player to earn a national title as both a player and as a coach. No. 42 Marion Jones Matthew Stockman/Getty Images This famous athlete was both a former track and field competitor as well as a former WNBA player. Competing in both sports so successfully, she would be ranked higher, but in recent years it has come out that during her track and field days she took performance-enhancing drugs. No. 41 Margaret Court Getty Images/Getty Images This famous female athlete made a name for herself in the game of tennis by becoming the first woman to play in the open era and the second of only five women ever to win all four Grand Slam titles in one year. No. 40 Hayley Wickenheiser Bruce Bennett/Getty Images Hayley Wickenheiser is known as one of the most talented and well-known female hockey players of all time.

She was the first woman to play professional hockey full-time in a position other than goalie and also played on the Canadian women's Olympic hockey team four times, winning three gold medals and one silver and collecting two MVPs along the way. No. 39 Wilma Rudolph Getty Images/Getty Images Once considered the fastest woman in the world, Wilma Rudolph competed twice in the Olympics, becoming the first woman to win three track and field gold medals all in one Olympics. No. 38 Fabiola Da Silva Photo courtesy A professional inline skater, this aggressive competitor was the first woman to ever successfully complete a double backflip on a vert ramp. She has also earned seven X-Games gold medals and one silver, making her one of the most decorated women in the sport. No. 37 Picabo Street Scott Halleran/Getty Images She may have a lightly off-the-wall name, but she was once one of the greatest skiing competitors of all time. Picabo Street was the first woman ever to win the World Cup downhill season title in both 1995 and 1996. She also won gold in the 1998 Olympic games, as well as in the 1996 downhill race and world championship.

In 2004 she was inducted to the National Ski Hall of Fame. No. 36 Nancy Lopez Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images One of the many greats in golf, Nancy Lopez won a total of 48 LPGA Tour events during her career. Jasper Juinen/Getty Images This athlete seemed to be a jack of all trades. She was both a German figure skater and model, who won gold medals at both the 1984 and 1988 Olympic games as well as four world championship titles. She has one of the most successful records in figure skating, making her one of the most talented and memorable skaters of all time. No. 34 Cammi Granato Bruce Bennett/Getty Images Often considered one of the greatest women's hockey players to have ever graced the ice, Cammi Granato was the first woman to ever be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. No. 33 Mary Lou Retton Steve Powell/Getty Images This gymnast's vault landing may be one of the most memorable in sports history. Not only did she win gold at the 1984 Olympic games, but she was the first non-Eastern-European gymnast to do so.

No. 32 Lisa Fernandez Robert Laberge/Getty Images Lisa Fernandez is a softball player who set the record for most strikeouts in a game, 25, while part of the U.S. national team. Vladimir Rys/Getty Images Yet another gymnast who has made this list for her huge accomplishments in gymnastics. Not only did she earn three gold medals in the 1976 Olympics and two in 1980, but she is also one of the few gymnasts to have ever been awarded a perfect score of 10. David Cannon/Getty Images This name has come up quite a bit in the news lately. On July 31, Yani Tseng won the British Open for the second year in a row, giving her a fifth major title and making her the youngest player, male of female, to earn five titles. With such an impressive career at such a young age, it will be interesting to see where she takes her game from here. No.

29 Kristine Lilly Ronald Martinez/Getty Images As one of the most successful soccer players in the world, male or female, Kristine Lilly retired from professional soccer in 2010 after serving 24 years on the national team and earning herself 352 caps, the most of any player ever in professional soccer. No. 28 Dorothy Hamill Larry Busacca/Getty Images Dorothy Hamill is one of the most recognized names in figure skating. During her career she became both a 1976 Olympic champion as well as a 1976 women's singles world champion. No. 27 Olga Korbut Photo courtesy Another great in the world of gymnastics, Olga Korbut won four gold medals and two silvers between the 1976 and 1980 Olympic games. No. 26 Diana Taurasi Christian Petersen/Getty Images Voted by fans as one of the "Top 15 Players in WNBA History," Diana Taurasi has shown on the court just what makes her such a great athlete. No.

25 Peggy Fleming Larry Busacca/Getty Images Not only is this former figure skater a 1968 Olympic champion and three-time world champion, but she also turned her athletic career into a television career by becoming a figure skating commentator when she was ready to retire. No. 24 Michelle Akers Photo courtesy Not only is this woman a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, but she competed on both the 1991 and 1999 U.S. Women's World Cup-winning teams and won the Golden Boot award in 1991 for being the top scorer in the tournament. No. 23 Nancy Lieberman Mike Maez/Getty Images Nancy Lieberman is recognized as one of the greatest players in women's basketball. She has been inducted into many halls of fame including the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame, the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. She eventually became a coach in the WNBA. No. 22 Sonja Henie Photo courtesy A forerunner of great skating athletes, throughout her career she became a three-time Olympic champion, won 10 world championships and six European championships, all while also working on her acting career.

No. 21 Candace Parker Photo courtesy nationalbasketblogassociation.wordpress.com Candace Parker has been the first to do many things when it comes to the game of basketball. She is known as the first woman to not only dunk in an NCAA game, but the first to dunk twice in one game. She is also known as only the second woman ever to dunk in the WNBA. No. 20 Marta Vieira Da Silva Pascal Muller/Getty Images Throughout Marta's career so far, she has been named the FIFA World Player of the Year four times, earned the FIFA Ballon d'Or title once, won a silver medal in both the 2004 and 2008 Olympic games, was given the Golden Ball for being the MVP of the U-19 Women's Wold Championships and won both the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot in 2007 during the World Cup. She is arguably one of the most successful soccer players in the history of the game. Jackie Joyner-Kersee, then - Famous American Olympic athletes: Where are they now? - Pictures - CBS News Famous American Olympic athletes: Where are they now?

Next Memorable American Olympians The Rio Olympics will send a new generation of athletes into the record books and the headlines. Ever wonder what's become of some of the most memorable U.S. athletes from past Olympics? Check out what these Olympic stars have been up to since the days when they set records, defied expectations and changed the games forever. Pictured: Carl Lewis of Team USA flies through the air on his way to a gold medal in the long jump competition at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Credit: Getty Images Nancy Kerrigan, then Kerrigan won the bronze medal in figure skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics. In 1994, Kerrigan was the victim of an attack later connected to associates of rival skater Tonya Harding. She was clubbed in the knee and had to miss the U.S. national championships, but still made the Olympic team. Kerrigan went on to win the silver medal that year. Credit: Pascal Rondeau/ALLSPORT via Getty Images Nancy Kerrigan, now Kerrigan has competed in Ice Wars, a team figure skating competition, and performed in ice shows. She has also appeared in the comedy Blades of Glory and worked as a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight.

Credit: Getty Images Tonya Harding, then Harding, the first woman to complete the notoriously difficult triple axel jump, finished fourth at the 1992 Olympics. She's best known for pleading guilty to knowledge of her husband and bodyguard's plan to break Kerrigan's leg to prevent her from competing in the Olympics. Credit: Vincent Amalvy/Getty Images Tonya Harding, now Banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association after the 1994 Olympics, Harding was forced to pursue a different career: She was a professional boxer from 2002 to 2004. Today, she's married and raising her first child. Credit: Al Bello, Getty Images Kerri Strug, then In 1996, a U.S. gymnastics team known as "the Magnificent Seven" stormed the games. Strug was a part of that team, and famously competed with an injured ankle. With encouragement from famed coach Béla Károlyi, Strug landed on both feet after performing a vault with that bad ankle. Though she immediately collapsed, her incredible performance helped win a gold medal for the women's gymnastics team.

In this photo, Károlyi carries an injured Strug to the podium for the medal ceremony. Credit: IOP/AFP/Getty Images Kerri Strug, now Since her historic performance, Strug has worked as a staff assistant in the Presidential Student Correspondence office at the White House and covered gymnastics for Yahoo!. Today, she is married and lives in Arizona. Credit: Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images Greg Louganis, then Louganis earned a spot in sports history when he won gold medals in springboard and platform diving competitions at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. Credit: Pascal Rondeau/Getty Images Greg Louganis, now Louganis was diagnosed with HIV before the 1988 Olympics, but he didn't publicly discuss it until 1995. Since then, Louganis has vocally supported gay rights and HIV awareness. He also published a well-received autobiography, "Breaking the Surface." Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images Tommie Smith, then Smith won the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics for the 200-meter dash. He's equally famous for his Black Power salute at the awards ceremony, joined by bronze medal winner John Carlos.

Credit: Getty Images Tommie Smith, now Though Smith received death threats and was banned from the Olympics after his controversial gesture at the awards ceremony, the moment became a symbolic milestone in civil rights history. Since then, Smith has since worked as a track coach and a sociology professor. Smith (left) and Carlos (right) won the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the ESPYs in 2008. Credit: Kevin Winter, Getty Images Michelle Kwan, then This beloved figure skater won the silver medal at the 1998 Olympics and the bronze at the 2006 Olympics. Credit: Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images Michelle Kwan, now Kwan never officially retired. Instead, she shifted focus toward her education, enrolling in an undergraduate program at the University of Denver and pursuing a masters in law and diplomacy at Tufts University. Today, Kwan works for the U.S. Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs. Credit: Getty Images Carl Lewis, then He's one of the most famous Olympic track and field athletes ever, having set the records for the 100-meter and 200-meter sprinting events and the long jump.

In total, Carl Lewis won nine gold medals between 1984 and 1996. Credit: Gray Mortimore/Getty Images Carl Lewis, now Lewis has been named World Athlete of the Century by the International Association of Athletics Federation and Sportsman of the Century by the International Olympic Committee. He has made movie and TV appearances and run for a a seat in the New Jersey Senate in 2011, though he was unsuccessful. Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images Jackie Joyner-Kersee, then Joyner-Kersee was voted the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated for Women. She's competed in four Olympics from 1984 to 1996, winning three gold medals, one silver and two bronze in the heptathlon and the long jump. Credit: Tony Duffy/Getty Images Jackie Joyner-Kersee, now Since her 1996 Olympic appearance, Joyner-Kersee played basketball for the Richmond Rage in the American Basketball League, a professional women's basketball league that went bankrupt in 1998. She also co-founded Athletes for Hope, a charity dedicated to connecting fellow athletes with needy non-profits.

Credit: Jemal Countess/Getty Images Muhammad Ali, then Three-time world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali is considered one of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. It was his victory in the 1960 Olympics in the heavyweight division that made 18-year-old, then known as Cassius Clay, an international star. Credit: AFP/Getty Images Muhammad Ali, 1942-2016 Ali spent the years after his retirement from the ring focusing on peace activism and humanitarian causes. After suffering from Parkinson's for many years, the beloved boxer passed away on June 3, 2016. Credit: Hannah Foslien/Getty Images for Starkey Hearing Misty May-Treanor, then May-Treanor is one of the most successful beach volleyball players ever: Along with teammate Kerri Walsh Jennings, May-Treanor won Olympic gold medals in 2004, 2008 and 2012. Credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images Misty May-Treanor, now After retiring in 2012, May-Treanor completed a graduate degree program in coaching.

She's also working to get families to be more active with a video series called "Full-Life Hacks," as well as spending time with her daughter. Credit: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for USOC Michael Jordan, then With an incredible NBA career that spanned over fifteen seasons and two teams, Jordan is considered the best basketball player of all time. He won Olympic gold medals in 1984 and again in 1992, when he was part of the "Dream Team" that also included superstars Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen and David Robinson. Credit: Karl Mathis/Getty Images Michael Jordan, now Since his retirement in 2003, Jordan bought a majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets. Thanks to endorsement deals and the success of Air Jordans, Jordan has achieved huge, lasting financial success. In 2015, Forbes calculated that Jordan is worth more than $1 billion. Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images Lisa Leslie, then Leslie has won four Olympic gold medals playing for the U.S. women's basketball team in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008.

She played for the Los Angeles Sparks for 11 seasons. Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images Lisa Leslie, now Since retiring from professional basketball in 2009, Lisa Leslie was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Leslie also has pursued an acting career, appearing in the movie "Think Like A Man" and various TV shows. Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Mark Spitz, then Mark Spitz won seven gold medals at the 1968 Olympics -- a record that stood for 40 years until Michael Phelps topped it with eight gold medals in 2008. Spitz won two more golds at the 1972 Olympics and set world records in seven different swimming events. Credit: Tony Duffy, Getty Images Mark Spitz, now Spitz retired from competitive swimming in 1972, but attempted to make a comeback in 1992, though he failed to qualify for the Olympics. He appeared on a number of TV shows and covered the 1976 and 1984 Olympic games. Today, Spitz runs a real estate company in Beverly Hills.

Credit: Kevin Lee, Getty Images for Laureus Michael Johnson, then The only male athlete to win the 200- and 400-meter dash competitions in the same Olympics, Michael Johnson is a record-breaking American sprinter. He has four Olympic gold medals. Credit: Simon Bruty, Getty Images Michael Johnson, now After the 2000 Olympics, Johnson worked as a BBC commentator and started his own sports management company, which manages other Olympic athletes. He also released a documentary called "Survival of the Fastest" about African-American runners. Credit: Getty Images Bruce Jenner, then In 1976, Bruce Jenner was hailed as "the world's greatest athlete" after winning a gold medal in the Decathlon at the Olympics. The record-breaking performance made Jenner America's golden boy, famously appearing on the Wheaties cereal box. Credit: Tony Duffy, Getty Images Caitlyn Jenner, now In 2015, Jenner went public as transgender and changed her name to Caitlyn Jenner .

She recently starred in a documentary series called "I Am Cait," after many years on the reality show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." Credit: Kevin Winter, Getty Images CBSNews.com Jackie Joyner-Kersee Biography: Olympic Athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee Biography Back to Biographies Jackie Joyner-Kersee was a track and field athlete who excelled in the heptathlon and the long jump. She is widely regarded as one of the top female athletes of all time and was voted the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated for Women. Where did Jackie Joyner-Kersee grow up? Jackie was born in East St. Louis, Illinois on March 3, 1962. Growing up in East St. Louis, Jackie spent a lot of time at the Mary Brown Center. She tried any kind of activity and sports including dance and volleyball. Jackie and her brother Al both went into track and field and trained together. Al also became a very successful athlete winning the gold medal for the triple jump in the 1984 Olympics. Jackie was a great all-around athlete. She used this to her advantage in the many-event sport the pentathlon.

Starting at the age of 14 she won four junior pentathlon championships in a row. Jackie also excelled in basketball at Lincoln High School and was an excellent student, too. Where did she go to college? Jackie went to UCLA, but on a basketball scholarship, not track and field. She was a starting forward for the Bruins for four years. She was voted one of the 15 best UCLA female basketball players of all time. Jackie began to focus on track at UCLA. She took a red-shirt year in 1984 to train for the Olympics. This meant she didn't play basketball, but still had a year of eligibility left. She won the Silver Medal in the Heptathlon at the 1984 Summer Olympics. The Olympics After college Jackie put her entire focus on track and field. She wanted the gold medal in the next Olympics and wasn't disappointed. In the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul Jackie won the gold medal in both the long jump and the heptathlon. In 1992 she once again won the gold in the heptathlon and the bronze medal in the long jump.

At the end of her Olympic career Jackie had won 6 medals including 3 gold medals. She also won 4 gold medals in the World Championships. Fun Facts about Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jackie has written two books one called A Woman's Place is Everywhere and an autobiography called A Kind of Grace. One of Jackie's heroes was Babe Didrikson Zaharias who was also a multitalented female athlete. She was named after Jackie Kennedy. She won the Jesse Owens Award in both 1986 and 1987 for the best track and field athlete in the US. Joyner-Kersee was the first woman to score more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon event. Jackie had an injury in the 1996 Olympics or she would like have won a medal in the heptathlon as well. She married Bob Kersee, her track coach, in 1986. Her brother Al, married Florence Griffith-Joyner, another great track and field athlete. Other Sports Legend's Biographies: Dr. Gabe Mirkin on Health, Fitness and Nutrition. | Famous Athletes with Asthma Subscribe to Dr.

Mirkin's free FITNESS & HEALTH NEWSLETTER Famous Athletes with Asthma Paula Radcliffe holds the world’s record in the women's marathon, has won the world championships in the marathon, half marathon and cross country, has won the European championship of 10,000 meters and cross country and the Commonwealth Games in the 5000 meters, has represented Great Britain in four Olympic games, and has won both the New York and London Marathons three times. She is married to her coach, Gary Lough, and has two children. Jackie Joyner-Kersee was named the greatest female athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated magazine.. Sports Illustrated for Women voted her the greatest female athlete of all time. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals in Track and Field in four different Olympic Games, even though she spent much of her time playing basketball and scored 1,167 points for the woman’s basketball team at UCLA. She set the world record for the heptathlon in 1988 which may never be broken.

She chose her parents and her coach well: her brother, Al Joyner, is an Olympic triple-jump champion and her coach, Bob Kersee, helped her to set world records and became her husband. African American Athletes Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jacqueline "Jackie" Joyner-Kersee is a retired American athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the women's heptathlon as well as in the women's long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, in those four different events. Sports Illustrated for Women magazine voted Joyner-Kersee the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th century, just ahead of Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Jackie Joyner-Kersee stands as an example of how strength and determination can triumph over adversity. An African-American, she has battled racial discrimination and gender bias and triumphed in the male-dominated field of athletic competition. Jacqueline Joyner was born March 3, 1962, in East St. Louis, Illinois, and was named after Jackie Kennedy.

One of four children born to Al Joyner and his wife, Mary, Jackie's older brother Al Joyner will also become an Olympic star and go on to marry Florence Griffith . Jackie and her family lived in a poor neighborhood, in a house Jackie described as "little more than paper and sticks". Jackie was only 10 when she started to compete in track meets and winning. When she was 14 years old Jackie Joyner won her first Junior National Title in the pentathlon. As a high school athlete at East St. Lois Lincoln High School, she qualified for the finals in the Long Jump at the 1980 Olympic Trials, finishing 8th behind another high school student, Carol Lewis. She was also a talented basketball and volleyball player in high school, which led to her basketball scholarship to UCLA in 1980. As a forward for the Bruins basketball team, Jackie Joyner was a starter in for each of her first three seasons.

Joyner red shirted during the 1983-1984 academic year to concentrate on the heptathlon for the 1984 Summer Olympics, then started again in her Senior (fifth) year, 1984-1985. Scoring 1,167 points during her collegiate career, Jackie was the 19th all time scorer for the Bruins. It was at UCLA that Jackie Joyner first met Bob Kersee, her coach and future husband. Under Coach Kersee's direction, Jackie Joyner excelled at track and won the NCAA heptathlon two years in a row, as well as walking away with the 1982 USA championship. Unfortunately, she also had an injury that would haunt her throughout her career. While preparing for the 1983 World Championships in Helinski, Finland, Jackie Joyner pulled her hamstring and was forced to withdraw from the competition. Starting in the 1984 Summer Olympics, Jackie Joyner became a regular participant and medal winner in the summer games until 1996.

During the 1984 Summer Olympics, Jackie Joyner won the silver medal in the heptathlon, the women's version of the decathlon. Later in the 1986 Goodwill Games, Joyner would be the first woman to score over 7,000 points in a heptathlon event. That same year she received the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. Jackie Joyner returned to the Olympics in 1988, but this time her name was Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Jackie and Bob Kersee were married in January of 1986, and he continued to be her track and field coach. In Seoul, Korea, Joyner-Kersee earned gold medals in both the heptathlon and the long jump, setting the still-standing heptathlon world record of 7,291 points. Five days later, Joyner won her second gold medal, leaping to an Olympic record of 7.40 m (24 ft 3 1⁄4 in) in the long jump.

During the 1991 World Championships in Toyko, Jackie-Joyner-Kersee again suffered a hamstring injury during the heptathlon's 200-meter run, but not before she had easily won the long jump. Her next trip to the Olympics in 1996 was the first time Jackie Joyner Kersee didn't win a medal. At the Olympic Trials, Joyner-Kersee sustained an injury to her right hamstring. When the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia began, Joyner-Kersee was not fully recovered by the time the heptathlon started. After running the first event, the 100 m hurdles, the pain was unbearable and she withdrew. She was able to recover well enough to compete in the long jump and qualify for the final, but Jackie was lunable to win the bronze medal. The Atlanta Olympics would be the last Olympics of Joyner-Kersee's long competitive career. Being done with the Olympics didn't mean Jackie-Joyner Kersee was done with being an athlete. Turning to her second love, she began her career as a professional women's basketball player.

In 1996 Jackie Joyner Kersee signed on to play pro basketball for the Richmond Rage of the fledgling American Basketball League. Although she was very popular with the fans, she was less successful on the court. She appeared in only 17 games, and scored no more than four points in any game. As of August 2010, Joyner-Kersee holds the world record in heptathlon along with six all time best results and her long jump record of 7.49 m is third on the long jump all time list. In addition to heptathlon and long jump, she was a world class athlete in 100 m hurdles and 200 meters. Sports Illustrated voted her the greatest female athlete of the 20th century.

Black History Makers: Ten of the Best - Women's Sports Foundation Wilma Rudolph Courage Award Black History Makers: Ten of the Best In celebration of February’s Black History Month, we are sharing the stories of ten incredible history-making athletes, who are also some of the best of all-time: Alice Coachman, Track & Field: Coachman, who passed away in July of 2014, was unable to compete in the Olympic Games as they were cancelled in 1940 and 1944 because of World War II. In the opinion of sportswriter Eric Williams, “Had she competed in those canceled Olympics, we would probably be talking about her as the No. 1 female athlete of all time.” Willye White, Track & Field: White, the first American track & field athlete to compete in five Olympics, was just a 16-year-old high school sophomore when she won a silver medal in the long jump in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. White won her second silver medal in 1964 as a member of the 400-meter relay team in Tokyo, Japan.

In all, White was a member of more than 30 international track & field teams and won a dozen AAU long jump titles in her career. USA Track & Field inducted her into its hall of fame in 1981 — one of her 11 sports hall of fame inductions. In 1999, Sports Illustrated for Women named her one of the 100 greatest women athletes in the 20th century. She is a recipient of the WSF Wilma Rudolph Courage Award (1998) and a member of the WSF International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame . Althea Gibson, Tennis: During the tumultuous Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Gibson was the first tennis player to cross the sport’s color lines. She won her first Glam Slam in 1956 — a French Open championship — and won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals the next year. In total, Gibson won 11 Grand Slam titles and is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In 1980, she was a member of our inaugural class of the WSF International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame.

Wilma Rudolph, Track & Field: A champion who was the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field during a single Olympic Games, Rudolph is also regarded as a civil rights pioneer. Along with other 1960 Olympic athletes — like Cassius Clay, who later became Muhammad Ali — Rudolph became an international star due to the first international television coverage of the Olympics that year. Seemingly, the odds were stacked against Rudolph from a very early age. She contacted “infantile paralysis” (a polio-related disease) at the age of 4 and although she would recover from the disease, she was forced to wear a leg brace and an orthopedic shoe until around age ten. She went on to elevate women’s track & field worldwide, winning the United Press Athlete of the Year 1960 and Associated Press Woman Athlete of the Year for 1960 and 1961. Also in 1961, Rudolph won the James E.

Sullivan Award, an award for the top amateur athlete in the United States She was an inaugural member of the WSF International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame and is the namesake of our Wilma Rudolph Courage award , an honor that recognizes a female athlete who exhibits extraordinary courage in her athletic performance, demonstrates the ability to overcome adversity, makes significant contributions to sports and serves as an inspiration and role model to those who face challenges, overcomes them and strives for success at all levels Cheryl Miller, Basketball: An Olympic gold medal winner in 1984, Miller was one of the first pioneering female basketball players. At the University of Southern California, Miller was a four-year letter winner, scored 3,018 career points (sixth all-time in NCAA history), and was a four-time All-American. She was named Naismith College Player of the Year three times and earned the Wade Trophy (Player of the Year) once. After graduating from USC in 1986, she was drafted by several professional basketball leagues, including the United States Basketball League, a men’s league. Miller is currently the women’s head coach at Oklahoma’s Langston University and serves as a sideline reporter for TNT’s NBA coverage.

In 1991, she was induced into the WSF International Women’s Sports Hall of Fame. Debi Thomas, Figure Skating: Thomas, the first African-American to hold a national title in Ladies’ Figure Skating, Thomas won both the US and World Championship title in 1986; she was also awarded with the WSF Sportswoman of the Year award that same year. At the 1988 Calgary Games, she won the bronze medal, becoming the first black athlete to medal at the Winter Olympics. At the height of her skating success, Thomas was a full-time Pre-Med student at Stanford University. She is now an orthopedic surgeon, specializing in hip and knee replacement. Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Track & Field: Kersee is considered among the all-time greatest athletes in the women’s heptathlon as well as in the women’s long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, in those two events at four different Olympic Games. Sports Illustrated voted Joyner-Kersee the Greatest Female Athlete of the 20th century, just ahead of Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

Not just a track star, Joyner-Kersee was also a basketball star ay UCLA, starting as Bruins forward from 1980 – 1983. She was the first winner of the WSF Wilma Rudolph Courage Award in 1996, after overcoming injury at the 1996 Atlanta Games to win bronze in the long jump. Dominque Dawes, Gymnastics: Dawes was a 10-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, the 1994 U.S. all-around senior National Champion, a three-time Olympian, a World Championships silver medalist and a member of the gold-medal winning “Magnificent Seven” at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She was the first African-American woman to win an individual gymnastics medal and the first black person of any nationality or gender to win an Olympic gold medal in gymnastics. Dawes served as WSF President in 2005 and 2006. Vonetta Flowers, Bobsled: Flowers was a star sprinter and long jumper at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and originally aspired to make the U.S.Summer Olympic Team.

After several failed attempts, Flowers turned to bobsledding, and found success as a brakewoman almost immediately. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, she, along with driver Jill Bakken, won the gold medal in the two-woman event, becoming the first black person to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics. In 1998, Flowers received a grant from the WSF Travel & Training Fund. Serena Williams, Tennis: Largely considered one of the best players — male or female — the game has ever seen, Williams holds the most major singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles combined amongst active players. Her record of 34 Grand Slam titles puts her sixth on the all-time list: 19 in singles, 13 in women’s doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. In 1999, Williams won the U.S. Open women’s singles title and became the first black woman to win a Grand Slam tournament title since Althea Gibson in 1958. Williams has won four Olympic gold medals, one in women’s singles and three in women’s doubles, an all-time record shared with her sister Venus.

In 2000, alongside sister Venus, Williams was honored with our Sportswoman of the Year award . To view photos from all these incredible athletes. visit our photo gallery on Facebook here. Our Mission The Women’s Sports Foundation is a non-profit that advances the lives of women through sports and physical activity. About the Foundation Related Posts Women and Sport: The Long Road Up ‘Women and Sport: The Long Road Up’ traces the pathway of women’s place in sport from the 1950s when girls and women were limited to play days, milk and cookies after “light competition,” to the impact of some of the most driven, talented,... Blind teen keeps on running, thanks to guide dog Sami Stoner is running proof that adversity doesn’t have to keep you from the finish line. A legally blind 16-year-old runner, Sami is traversing cross-country courses this season with her new guide dog, Chloe, and is believed to be the first high... Get Girls Active, Part 3: Keeping It Fun! The best way to combat fear of being active in girls is to teach them to move in ways that their body and personality-type enjoy.

It's important to try to make every encounter that a girl has with activity a positive one. Here are some easy tips on... Jackie Joyner-Kersee Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com Related Olympians: Sister-in-law of Florence Griffith Joyner ; Sister of Al Joyner . Medals: 3 Gold, 1 Silver, 2 Bronze (6 Total) Biography In any discussion of the greatest ever female athletes, Jackie Joyner-Kersee is on the list. In fact, Sports Illustrated voted her the greatest female athlete of the 20th century, just ahead of [Babe Didrikson]. JJK attended UCLA where she played basketball and competed in track & field. She represented the United States at four consecutive Olympics (1984-96) in the long jump and heptathlon, winning six Olympic medals, including three golds, with back-to-back golds in the hep in 1988-92, and a long jump gold in 1988. At the World Championships she was heptathlon champion in 1987 and 1993 and long jump champion in 1987 and 1991.

In 1986, at the Goodwill Games, JJK won the heptathlon title, scoring 7,148 points, the first time any woman had scored over 7,000 points. It was the first of four world records Joyner-Kersee would set in the event, as she scored 7,161 points later in 1986 in Houston, and in 1988 set a mark of 7,215 at the Olympic Trials in Indianapolis, and recorded 7,291 to win the 1988 Olympic gold medal, a world record that still stands as of January 2012. Joyner-Kersee also excelled individually in other events. She set a long jump world record with 7.45 done in Indianapolis in August 1987. In the 100 hurdles, she set two American records, her best being 12.61 set in 1988.

She was voted Female Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News in 1986, 1987, and 1994, and only [Florence Griffith Joyner]'s (her sister-in-law) stunning season kept her from a three-peat in 1988. In the world rankings, JJK was #1 in the heptathlon in 1986-90 and 1992-93, #1 in the long jump in 1987-88 and 1994, and was ranked in the top 10 in the 100 hurdles in 1987-88 and 1994. Joyner-Kersee married her coach, Bob Kersee. Her brother, [Al Joyner], won the 1984 Olympic triple jump gold medal, and her sister-in-law was the great sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner. Since her retirement from competition, JJK has devoted herself to charitable works through both the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation and Athletes for Hope.

Personal Bests: 100H – 12.61 (1988); LJ – 7.49 (1992 [twice]); Hep – 7291 (1988). Results

Question: Voted the greatest female athlete of the 20th century by 'Sports Illustrated for Women', which American athlete won gold medals in both the Heptathlon and Long Jump in 1988?
Answer: JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE